Method and apparatus for laying elongated mat



July 25, 1967 s. L. GRIFFITH ETAL 3,332,827

METHOD AND AfPARATUS FOR LAYING ELONGATED MAT Filed Aug. 5, 1963 FIG. 5

Fl G. 6 I x INVENTORS 58 GEORGE L. GRIFFITH s4 s2 I V 56 BY JOHN G.KLUCK W, 1 7m ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,332,827 METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR LAYING ELONGATED MAT George L. Griffith, 11960 SW. ButnerRoad, Portland,

Greg. 97225, and John G. Kluck, 15209 SW. Quarry Road, Lake Grove, Oreg.97034 Filed Aug. 5, 1963, Ser. No. 299,917 2 Claims. (Cl. 156-575) Thisinvention relates to improvements in a means and method for laying anelongated ribbon or strip on a surface. The invention has particularutility in connection with, and thus more particularly concerns, thelaying of felt or similar material on a roof or other surface, such feltlaying comprising one of the steps involved in preparing a waterproofroof of a type widely used today in buildings and other structures.

One form of waterproof roof known today comprises one or more layers offelt applied to a surface and adhered in place by means of an asphalticcomposition. The felt comprises an elongated, relatively narrow sheet(or strip), of organic, Fiberglas, or asbestos material, which itself isusually impregnated with asphaltic composition. The felt is delivered toa roofer i-n rolls. In preparing a roof, the impregnated sheet materialis pulled off from a roll, and adhered to the roof using an asphalticcomposition, which may 'be applied either to the felt or to the surfacebefore the felt is finally laid in place (the asphaltic compositionfrequently being applied hot to facilitate spreading of thecomposition).

During the process of laying out strips of felt on a roof, certainconditions often exist which make it difiicult to lay the strips of feltin straight rows, with the laid strips devoid of wrinkles, captured airpockets under the felt (producing a blistering effect), and otherimperfections.

Generally, an object of this invention is to provide improved apparatusiand means for laying down material such as felt, whereby neater, moreperfect laying jobs are possible, with the expenditure of little, ifany, more effort than is necessary using conventional practices.

As already indicated, it is common to use a hot, asphaltic compositionas the means for adhering the felt to the supporting surface. Because ofthe temperature of this material, air currents tend to be produced whichrise up under the felt at the same time that the felt is being laiddown. Such convection currents may also result from the sun heating thesurface being treated. Because of these currents, it is not uncommon forthe felt, during the process of laying it down, to collect pockets ofair underneath it, with such then being sealed beneath the felt when thefelt around the pockets is finally adhered to the supporting surface.

This invention contemplates a method of laying down the felt, whereinthe [felt is shaped in a specific manner prior to its application to asurface, whereby the formation of such air pockets may be eliminated.More specifically, a transverse convexity in the lower face of a feltstrip is prepared, so that when the felt is lowered down on thesupporting surface, air is enabled to escape outwardly around the sidemargins of the strip. This escape of air may continue until the felt isflattened out and finally in lace.

p By shaping the felt prior to its application, a further advantage isnoted, in that gusts of wind over the roof, instead of tending toproduce waves in the felt and other air pocket-forming conditions, morereadily pass under the felt. It has also been noted that the shaped beltis strengthened so as to better withstand wind gusts, much in the sameway that a fold in a piece of paper strengthens the paper wherebygreater resistance is offered to bending across the fold.

In laying a strip of felt on a roof, in most instances 3,332,827Patented July 25, 1967 ideally the strip should be laid in a perfectlystraight line. While such is the ideal, in practice this is difficult toaccomplish. Usually there is some bending or curvature along the stripof felt after it is laid out. Such bending results in undesirablewrinkles in the margins of the felt. The Wrinkles are formed, because,as in the case of any flat piece, material on the inside of the bendmust occupy a smaller area than the same amount of material on theoutside of the bend. A further feature and object of the inventioncomprises preparing the felt prior to laying it down on a supportingsurface whereby such wrinkles at a slight bend or curve may beeliminated.

More specifically, an object of the invention is to provide means andmethod for laying felt, where the felt is both stretched along a centerzone (to have a length along this zone which is greater than the lengthof the side margins of the felt), and in addition is given a V-shapedtransverse profile, so that when the felt is laid down upon a surface,the center zone contacts the surface first (with fair allowed to escapearound the margins), the stretching being effective to inhibit wrinkleformation in the margins in the case of an unavoidable slight bendoccurring along a row of the felt.

The usual felt of a given dimension comes in rolls which all haveapproximately the same length (corresponding to the width of the feltstrip in the rolls). The lengths of the rolls are not absolutely thesame, however. Thus, the rolls when they are mounted on the usualfeltlayer are permitted some axial play, to take care of minorvariations in length. This has made it more diflicult to lay the feltalong :a perfectly straight line, in that upon slight axial shifting Ofthe roll on a felt layer, the delivery point for the felt to the roofsurface changes. A further feature and object of this invention is theprovision of means which functions to guide the felt as it leaves theroll, whereby its point of delivery to the roof surface being coveredtends to remain more uniform.

Commonly felt is made of asbestos, organic, or Fiberglas material, and astrip of such material stretches somewhat at its margins during thepreparation of a roll therefrom. Stretching may also occur when thematerial is pulled from the roll. The stretching, of course, is greaterWith some materials than with others. Another object is to provide novelmeans for laying felt on a roof, whereby wrinkles resulting from suchstretching are minimized or eliminated.

Still another object is to provide a means and method for laying felt,where perforations are imparted to the felt prior to its being laid upona surface, said perforations functioning as vents for captured air underthe felt.

These and other objects and advantages are attained by the invention,and the same is described hereinbelow in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view, somewhat exaggerated, illustratingprinciples of the method of the invention, and showing how a piece offelt (with the felt viewed from one margin thereof) may be formed priorto laying of the felt on a supporting surface;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view, taken generally along the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1, further illustrating the forming of the felt.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic view, also somewhat exaggerated, illustratinghow a strip of felt when formed according to the invention may bendslightlyin the plane of its faces, without such producing wrinklestherein;

FIG. 4 is a view generally along the line 44 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view, somewhat simplified of apparatusaccording to the invention such as may be employed to practice themethod of the invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a modified form of apparatus according to theinvention. 1

In practicing the method of this invention, as when laying elongatedstrips of felt on a roof, in the usual instance the initial step to beperformed is to deposit a suitable layer of hot asphaltic compositionover the surface that is to receive the felt. The strip of felt may thenbe lowered down against the asphaltic layer to become adhered in placeafter contacting the layer upon the asphaltic material cooling.

By applying the asphaltic material to the supporting surface, it is arelatively easy matter to control properly the thickness of the layerprepared. In some instances, however, it may be desirable to apply theasphaltic material to the underside of the felt, and then lay the feltin place. Further, it should be noted that hot asphaltic compositionsare not always used.

In FIG. 1, a roof surface is indicated at It which has a layer ofasphaltic material 12 deposited thereover, A strip of felt in theprocess of being laid over the asphaltic layer to be be supported bysurface lid is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 at 14.

Referring to FIG. 2, the width of the felt strip is indicated at A. Byway of illustration, it is not uncommon for strips three feet in widthto be used in preparing a roof. The strips are laid out in elongatedparallel rows, the particular length of the rows, of course, varyingdepending upon the area to be covered. Usually the rows have lengthssubstantially in excess of the width of the strip.

In making a roof according to the invention, after the asphaltic layerhas been prepared, ordinarily the next step is to anchor an end of feltstrip 14 on the roof surface, by dropping it down on and pressing itagainst the top of asphaltic layer 12. Thus, in FIG. 1, one end of thestrip is shown so anchored in place, such end being indicated at 16.With this end anchored in place, the felt strip may then be unrolledfrom the usual roll such as roll 19 that contains it, by moving the rollaway from the anchored end (or to the left in FIG. 1) to produce anelongated reach of the felt strip suspended over surface It andasphaltic layer 12. Such an elongated reach of felt is indicated in FIG.1 at 13.

The felt as it is unrolled from the usual roll 19 is flat in atransverse direction, and such is illustrated by flat region in FIGS. 1and 4. Anchored end 16 is also flat, where it is secured to surface 10.According to this invention, a convexity in the bottom face of the feltis formed in felt reach 18, so that when successive portions of reach 18of the felt are lowered onto the roof surface, that part of each portionwhich first comes into contact with the roof surface is the partcontaining the apex of the convexity formed in the felt.

More specifically, and referring to FIGS. 1 and 4, at 22 is indicatedthe end of an elongated roller, or feltreceiving means, over which thefelt travels on being pulled from the roll 19. Midway between the endsof the roller, the roller has a diameter B, and the roller tapers fromthis mid-point to smaller diameter ends C. Because of the shape of theroller, more specifically its tapered ends, the felt strip between theroller and its anchored end 16 has a shallow, V-shaped cross-sectionaloutline, best illustrated in FIG. 2. The apex of the convexity in thebottom face of the felt strip extends along a zone 24 situatedapproximately midway between the margins of the felt strip.

The felt strip on being pulled from roll 19 subjected to tension andthus undergoes some stretching. Because the felt is fiat at region 20and flat at its anchored end 16, and because the felt travels over thetapered roller while under tension (the roller constituting guide meansguiding the felt strip between roll 19 and the anchored end) the felt isstretched with zone 24 along the reach of felt being stretched to agreater length than the length of the edges or margins of the felt. Thisis readily illustrated in FIG. 1, where it will be seen that edge 26 ofthe felt extends over a shorter distance between roll 19 and end 16 thanzone 24. This stretching is produced in addition to the fact that thefelt has a V-shaped cross-sectional outline, as discussed.

With such stretching and forming of the felt, as more and more felt ispulled off from the roll, as by continued movement of roll 19 to theleft in FIG. 1, successive portions of the reach of felt, progressingfrom the anchored end, eventually are pulled by gravity downwardly andinto contact with the asphaltic layer. With each successive portion, itis the center region or part of the felt that first contacts theasphaltic layer, followed by the margins of the felt. In FIG. 1, portion30 of the felt is shown with its center region only in contact with theasphaltic layer. With portion 32, both the center region and the marginsare still out of contact with the asphaltic layer. With more feltunwound from the roll, it should be obvious that eventually both centraland marginal regions of portion 30 come into contact with the asphalticlayer, and that as portion 32 lowers, its center region first contactsthe asphaltic layer.

Referring to FIG. 2, when the portion of the felt which is located wherethe cross-sectional view is taken comes into contact with the asphalticlayer, the region which lies in zone 24 first contacts the layer,followed by laterally outward regions progressing towards the margins ofthe felt. As a result, air under the felt may escape by flowingoutwardly and around the margins of the felt, as indicated by the arrowsin FIG. 2. With the felt flat on the asphaltic layer, and using themethod of the invention, captured air pockets under the felt areeliminated.

Furthermore, because of the crease that in effect is provided alongapproximately the center of the felt strip, a rigidity is introducedwhich stabilizes the felt whereby it better withstands wind gusts overthe top of the roof. With the convexity over the lower face of the felt,currents of air pass more freely under the felt without ballooning thefelt whereby it could capture pockets of air upon being lowered onto theasphaltic layer.

Referring to FIG. 3, this figure illustrates, diagrammatically, how thefelt, because of its stretched condition and the greater stretchingapplied to the center zone, may bend slightly along a laid out rowwithout such producing wrinkles. In FIG. 3, the center line of the feltstrip is indicated at 34. It is this part of each successive portion offelt that first contacts the asphaltic layer. On making a bend, theregion between lines as and 38 to the top of line 34 in FIG. 3 contactsthe asphaltic layer after the center region does, and after beingstretched an additional amount. The region between lines 36, 3:8 andbelow line 34 also contacts the asphaltic layer after the center regiondoes, but some contraction takes place in this region before contacttakes place. As a result, a flat felt layer is produced.

Roller 22 with its tapered ends functions to center the felt strip onthe roller as it passes thereover, because of the crown that the taperedends produce in the roller. This centering function is important inobtaining straight rows of laid down felt, as it means that the felttravels from the roller with a substantially uniform position relativeto the roller, irrespective of any axial movement that roll 19 mayundergo.

The stretching clone ot the center zone of the felt is important also ineliminating wrinkles in the laid down felt, resulting from the fact thata strip of felt in the process of being handled tends to be stretchedalong its margins.

FIG. 5 illustrates, in simplified form, felt-laying apparatus such asmay be employed to practice the method of the invention. The apparatusincludes a tub 40 provided to hold asphaltic material (i.e., liquidbinding material for the felt), supported by lateral wheels 42 adjacentthe rear end thereof (the near wheel having been removed in FIG. 5), anda wheel 44 adjacent the forward end. Valve or dispensing means 46 isprovided to control the flow of asphaltic material from the bottom ofthe tub onto the surface being covered. A mop is indicated at 50, whichdistributes the asphaltic material to make a thin layer thereof over asurface when the device is pulled to the left in FIG. 5.

A roll of felt 54 is supported on a shaft 55 extending therethrough. Theshaft is craddled at its ends in brackets such as bracket 57. The shaftcan rotate within the brackets, although some resistance is offered tosuch movement. Felt from roll 54 passes from the roll downwardly andover tapered roller 56 and thence to the right. With the apparatus towedto the left in FIG. 4, the felt is stretched, with maximum stretchingoccurring along a central zone, to produce the novel results notedabove.

In FIG. 6, a modified form of the apparatus is illustrated forpracticing the invention. Here a spiked roller 58 is provided, which isjournaled in the apparatus above the tapered roller and below felt roll54. Additionally, a bar 60 mounted on the device supports one face ofthe felt leaving roll 54, and pressing the felt against bar 60 is aroller 62. Roller 62 is spring biased, as by a spring 64 acting on eachend, against bar 60. The roller, by pushing the felt against bar 60,serves to brake the movement of the felt toward tapered roller 56. Byvarying the bias of springs 64, the extent of the braking actionprovided may be changed. I

With the modified apparatus just described, perforations are made in thefelt after the same is pulled from the roll and before the felt isapplied to the roof surface. This is done with the felt cold or atatmospheric temperatures, and thus the perforations stay open until thefelt is adhered to the roof surface. With such perforations, vents areprovided for any air that should inadvertently be captured in pocketsunder the layer of felt.

From this description it should be obvious that a number of novelfeatures are contemplated, contributing to a better felt-layingoperation. Through the process of anchoring one end of the felt,stretching the felt, and properly forming the felt, many of thedifliculties are overcome that formerly resulted in inferior jobs. Theentire process can be carried on continuously, using the apparatusdescribed, or similar means.

Having described the invention, certain changes and alterations willsuggest themselves to those skilled in the art. It is desired to coverall modifications and variations that would be apparent to those skilledin the art, and that come within the scope of the appended claims.

It is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent:

1. Apparatus for laying down an elongated strip of felt on a supportingsurface comprising a tub for holding liquid binding material for thefelt and wheel means mounted on the apparatus adjacent the tub forsupporting the tub for movement over said surface,

5 dispensing means adjacent the base of the tub for dispensing liquidbinding material from said tub onto said surf-ace,

roll support means for supporting a roll of felt mounted on theapparatus adjacent the tub in an elevated position over such supportingsurface, and

felt-receiving means disposed under said roll support means, butelevated above the supporting surface for the apparatus, adapted toreceive felt extending from a roll of such felt supported on said rollsupport means, and to support such felt out of contact with saidsupporting surface while stretching the felt along the center zonethereof, upon the felt being pulled off to one side of the apparatusfrom said felt-receiving means,

said felt-receiving means including two conical portions having largerdiameter ends joined together providing a guide'surface that guides thefelt by defining paths of travel for said center zone of the felt andthe felt edges, said center zone of the felt having a path of traveldefined therefor to said one side of the apparatus which is of greaterlength than the paths of travel defined for the felt edges,

said felt-receiving means being located to said one side of apparatusfrom said dispensing means with its guide surface adapted to pass overliquid binding material dispensed onto a supporting surface from saiddispensing means.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, which further comprises perforating meansmounted on said frame for perforating 35 the felt where it extends fromthe roll on said roll support means to said felt-receiving means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ALEXANDER WYMAN, PrimaryExaminer. MORRIS SUSSMAN, W. J. VAN BALEN, Examiners.

1. APPARATUS FOR LAYING DOWN AN ELONGATED STRIP OF FELT ON A SUPPORTINGSURFACE COMPRISING A TUB FOR HOLDING LIQUID BINDING MATERIAL FOR THEFELT AND WHEEL MEANS MOUNTED ON THE APPARATUS ADJACENT THE TUB FORSUPPORTING THE TUB FOR MOVEMENT OVER SAID SURFACE, DISPENSING MEANSADJACENT THE BASE OF THE TUB FOR DISPENSING LIQUID BINDING MATERIAL FROMSAID TUB ONTO SAID SURFACE, ROLL SUPPORT MEANS FOR SUPPORTING A ROLL OFFELT MOUNTED ON THE APPARATUS ADJACENT THE TUB IN AN ELEVATED POSITIONOVER SUCH SUPPORTING SURFACE, AND FELT-RECEIVING MEANS DISPOSED UNDERSAID ROLL SUPPORT MEANS, BUT ELEVATED ABOVE TO RECEIVE FELT EXTENDINGFROM A ROLL OF SUCH FELT SUPPORTED ON SAID ROLL SUPPORT MEANS, AND TOSUPPORT SUCH FELT OUT OF CONTACT WITH SAID SUPPORTING SURFACE WHILESTRETCHING THE FELT ALONG THE CENTER ZONE THEREOF, UPON THE FELT BEINGPULLED OFF TO ONE SIDE OF THE APPARATUS FROM SAID FELT-RECEIVING MEANS,SAID FELT-RECEIVING MEANS INCLUDING TWO CONICAL PORTIONS HAVING LARGERDIAMETER ENDS JOINED TOGETHER PROVIDING A GUIDE SURFACE THAT GUIDES THEFELT BY DEFINING PATHS OF TRAVEL FOR SAID CENTER ZONE OF THE FELT ANDTHE FELT EDGES, SAID CENTER ZONE OF THE FELT HAVING A PATH OF TRAVELDEFINED THEREFOR TO SAID ONE SIDE OF THE APPARATUS WHICH IS OF GREATERLENGTH THAN THE PATHS OF TRAVEL DEFINED FOR THE FELT EDGES, SAIDFELT-RECEIVING MEANS BEING LOCATED TO SAID ONE SIDE OF APPARATUS FROMSAID DISPENSING MEANS WITH ITS GUIDE SURFACE ADAPTED TO PASS OVER LIQUIDBINDING MATERIAL DISPENSED ONTO A SUPPORTING SURFACE FROM SAIDDISPENSING MEANS.